Slurries are processed in many industries ranging from food processing to biofuel production. In the production of biofuels, for example, the addition of water or other liquid to the incoming feedstock to form a slurry facilitates the transportation and mechanical handling of the feedstock.
There is a growing impetus in several industries in recent years to reduce the liquid content of slurries to improve process economics. For example, large scale swine farming is an industry that generates high levels of swine waste, which has led to issues involving treatment of the swine waste. At a swine farm site, waste is typically removed by washing away waste that has accumulated within channels cut into the floor at the farm site. The mixture of waste and water is then collected at a downstream site and is deposited into a lagoon, which acts as a bio-reactive system that treats the waste through the reaction of bio-reactive material and enzymes. Due to recent changes in regulatory environment restricting the building of new swine lagoons, the use and placement of waste lagoons has become problematic in recent years. Furthermore, in instances when extreme and/or significant rainfall occur, the swine lagoons can overfill and overrun into the surrounding landscape. This in turn can result in damage to existing crop structures, soil, water, and sewer systems of the surrounding landscape.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method or solution that addresses these shortcomings in the art.